The Weekend Planet

The release of Charles Lloyd’s Rabo de Nube {tail of a cloud} celebrates his 70th birthday. It superbly captures a concert given just weeks after his 69th birthday. That was more than four decades after another Charles Lloyd quartet’s Forest Flower - probably, still, the world’s biggest-selling ‘live’ acoustic jazz quartet album; its pianist was Keith Jarrett and Lloyd then led the world’s most popular jazz quartet. Lloyd is a much greater musician now and Rabo de Nube is a vastly superior disc. With the leader’s magisterial tenor sax, fluent flute and probing tarogato are three brilliant, much younger players - pianist Jason Moran, double-bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland. This truly spiritual music is light-years deeper than the bland twaddle oft-peddled as ‘spiritual’ music.

Charles Lloyd’s official site: www.charleslloyd.com

You can read a revealing interview with him, here:
www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=2046

Playlist

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Details of each track are presented in the following order:
BROADCAST TIME
TRACK NUMBER AND TITLE
COMPOSER
PUBLISHING AND COPYRIGHT DETAILS
RECORDING COMPANY AND CD NUMBER
( distributor/ source details, in brackets like this, in lower-case)
ARTIST AND CD TITLE
Duration of track
Description of track, in lower-case.
Where relevant, further info links to information, gigs/events/related programs

’THE WEEKEND PLANET’ SUN 15.6 08

2205
THEME:
(details below, as per the original CD.. This cut is also on these compilations Ketama - ’ Nuevos Medios Coleccion’ - Nuevos Medios NM 15 820
{ in Australia via MGM www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide, via: www.flamenco-world.com/noticias/nuevos.htm }
and ’ Jarabi - the best of Toumani Diabate’ (Hannibal 334352 )

CD CUT 1, ’JARABI’
TRAD, ARR TOUMANI DIABATE
HAMILCAR MUSIC LTD
HANNIBAL HNCD 1323
( in Australia, some releases through Stomp Enquiries to: ben@stomp.com.au
worldwide: www.rykodisc.com )
KETAMA, TOUMANI DIABATE, DANNY THOMPSON - ’SONGHAI’
THIRTY SECONDS (EXCERPT)
(retains a stately-Manding air, whilst also embracing flamenco elements. Toumani Diabate’s kora, Danny Thompson’s beautiful double bass and Ketama’ s flamenco guitars

2208
CD CUT 2, ’MIGRATON OF SPIRIT’
CHARLES LLOYD
FOREST FARM MUSIC (BMI)
ECM 2053 / 175 4811
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD - ’RABO DE NUBE’
10: 07
( ’live’ and genuinely spiritual: a post-’Trane, wordless jazz-prayer for Lloyd’s uncanny tenor sax, Jason Moran’s piano, Reuben Rogers ac bass and Eric Harland on drums-percussion. Has real gravitas. Superb band, recorded last year when Lloyd was 69. Issued this year to mark his 70th birthday.

AARON GOLDBERG TRIO AUSTRALIAN TOUR ALERT
( Pianist Aaron’s trio has the very same bassist - Reuben Rogers )

Sydney dates:

Thursday June 12 and Friday June 13:
8.30 pm at ’The Sound Lounge’
(doors open 8.00pm)
Seymour Theatre Centre, corner City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale
Box office tel: 02 9351 7940
www.sima.org.au
---

Queensland dates:

14 June
The J, Noosa Junction (8 pm)

15 June
Gold Coast Arts Centre (3 pm)

17 June
Ellaways Music Auditorium Workshops, Underwood
10am12pm (Students) - 1pm5pm (Teachers)

Wed June 18: Brisbane
7.30 pm (doors open 7 pm) Judith Wright Centre
www:judithwrightcentre.com
tel bookings on 07 38729000 {Mon to Frid 12-4pm}

20 June
Mackay Arts Centre

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT AARON GOLDBERG?

His site: www.aarongoldberg.com
There’s bio of the full trio, here:
www.sima.org.au/2008/06/12/aaron-goldberg-trio-usa )

SEGUE

2218
CD CUT 8, ’LADY IN THE HARBOR’
CHARLES LLOYD
FOREST FARM MUSIC (BMI)
ECM 1976
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, ERIC HARLAND - ’SANGAM’
3: 27
(’live’ in May 2004. Begins with Lloyd’s alto sax, quite alone, then with hand-drums - the African-American Eric Harland and the Indian, Zakir Hussain. Goes into a sweetly funky groove, and then Zakir’s tabla lead directly into next cut)

SEGUE ( continuous )

2221
CD CUT 9, ’LITTLE PEACE’
CHARLES LLOYD
FOREST FARM MUSIC (BMI)
ECM 1976
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD, ZAKIR HUSSAIN, ERIC HARLAND - ’SANGAM’
5: 36
(Lloyd’s alto flute, Zakir’s tabla and Eric’s drumkit, ’live’ very alive, ending with a rousing, celebratory round of exchanges between Zakir and Eric. Charles then back-announces them and audience erupts. A now-ongoing, occasional trio, but this performance comes from their very first night on stage )

2230
CD CUT 9, ’UNICORNIO’
SILVIO RODRIGUEZ
CONTROL
LUAKA BOP 7599-26480-2
(this may or may not be available, still)
SILVIO RODRIGUEZ, ’LOS CLASSICOS DE CUBA 1’
4: 34
(High voiced Cuban male singer with acoustic guitar and bass, ’live, with melancholic/tender allegorical song about losing his ’unicorn’ {faith/belief} and not knowing when/how/if it will ever return. Throughout the Americas south of the USA, one of the 20th century’s best-loved songs . One source claims he wrote it after his son was kidnapped and never seen again. I think that may be a furphy. The next item in this show is a setting of another of his songs.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CUBA’S MOST ESTEEMED SONGSTER?

This is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Rodriguez )

SEGUE

2235
CD CUT 7, ’RABO DE NUBE’
SILVIO RODRIGUEZ
OJALA S.L. SGAE
ECM 2053 / 175 4811
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD - ’RABO DE NUBE’
7: 15
(Lloyd’s uncanny tenor sax, Jason Moran’s piano, Reuben Rogers’ ac bass and Eric Harland on drums-percussion. Recorded last year when Lloyd was 69. Issued this year to mark his 70th birthday. A flowing-lyrical, tender instrumental reading of a Cuban song. Its title literally means ’tail of a cloud’, but I think it also signifies ’hurricane/cyclone/whirlwind’, and it was that sense which was the metaphorical heart of the original song )

2243
CD CUT 13, ’IN THE DISTANCE’
JOHN SURMAN
BIG LIFE MUSIC LTD/ IN ALL SERIOUSNESS MUSIC LTD
ABC 476 6439
( in Australia through Universal. Available at ABC shops
& online: www.abcshop.com.au )
GENEVIEVE LACEY - ’WEAVER OF FICTIONS’
4: 13
(AUSTRAL PERF: Spacious: absolutely solo recorder {Ganassi in G} . Based on a 1974 solo improvisation by Surman. In 2005 he reworked it into this composition - expressly for Genevieve Lacey )

2248
CD CUT 8, ’I WISH YOU LOVE’
CHARLES TRENET
PUB NOT SPEC
JAZZGROOVE JGR 034
( www.jazzgroove.com
available online via Birdland: www.birdland.com.au )
TOM O HALLORAN TRIO - ’GREEN HILLS AND WHITE CLOUDS’
10: 15 (not quite complete)
(AUSTRAL PERF: solo piano. Rhapsodic, deep exploration of/ expansion on a romantic ballad. Glorious playing a very good piano, superb recorded Many jazz - and other - singers have covered the song, usually using an English-language lyric by Albert A. Beach, which is not a direct translation of Trenet’s French original.

LIKE TO SEE THE SONG’S ENGLISH LYRIC?
Go to: www.lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/i/iwishyoulove.shtml

TOM O’HALLORAN TRIO TOUR ALERT (Syd, Mel, Perth)

Friday 20th June at 9pm. Paris Cat, 6 Goldie Place, Melbourne.
www.pariscat.com.au

Tuesday 24th June: (as part of the Melbourne Jazz Co-Operative
Program) Bennett’s Lane, 25 Bennett’s Lane, Melbourne.
www.bennettslane.com

Wednesday 25th June: Sydney. Solo piano set at The Basement, 29 Reiby Lane. Support for Richard Maegraith’s Jazzgroove CD launch.
www.jazzgroove.com

Monday 28th July: Perth Jazz Society, Charles Hotel, North Perth.
www.perthjazzsociety.com

All gigs will present new material! There may be one or two more performances added.
For updates check www.myspace.com/tommyomusic )

----
11 PM NEWS
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2305
CD CUT 11, ’THE GREY THRUSH’
JOHN RODGERS
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
ABC 476 6439
( in Australia through Universal. Available at ABC shops
& online: www.abcshop.com.au )
GENEVIEVE LACEY - ’WEAVER OF FICTIONS’
0: 56
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: as mimicked/evoked - solo - on a sopranino recorder )

2308
CD CUT 7, ’SLOKA: TRILOKYAKARSHANANGAM’ (IN RAGA DVIJANANTI)
TRAD / IMPROVISED UPON BY ARUNA SAIRAM
PUB NOT SPEC
OCORA C 561152
( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
Ocora is Radio France’s label www.radiofrance.com
Aruna Sairam’s site: http://virb.com/arunasairam )
ARUNA SAIRAM - ’PADAM, TANJORE STYLE OF SINGING’
3: 15
( { South Indian } Carnatic classical female voice - a very good one - atop discreet violin and drone. Melismatic - very melismatic - meditative-devotional. This is an example of the non-rhythmic, devotional, poetic/song form known as ’sloka’. Aka ’shloka’, it was allegedy invented by Valmiki - the author or primary author of Hinduism’s epic, the Ramayana.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT VALMIKI?

This is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valmiki

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SONG/ PRAYER/ VERSE FORM KNOWN AS ’SLOKA’/’ SHLOKA’?

Two places to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shloka
www.iloveindia.com/spirituality/sloka/index.html )

SEGUE

2311
CD CUT 3, ’BOOKER’S GARDEN’
CHARLES LLOYD
FOREST FARM MUSIC (BMI)
ECM 2053 / 175 4811
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD - ’RABO DE NUBE’
14: 26
( ’live’: In memory of Lloyd’s childhood friend , the trumpeter Booker Little. Both were born in Memphis in 1938. Little died aged 23 in 1961. Lloyd’s alto flute, Jason Moran’s piano, Reuben Rogers ac bass and Eric Harland on drums-percussion. Has meditative-sombre and exuberant-celebratory parts and Moran takes a great piano solo. Superb band, recorded last year when Lloyd was 69. Issued this year to mark his 70th birthday.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT BOOKER LITTLE?

Start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_Little )

SEGUE

2325
CD CUT 9, ’SLOKA: VANDEHAM’
TRAD / IMPROVISED UPON BY ARUNA SAIRAM
PUB NOT SPEC
OCORA C 561152
( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
Ocora is Radio France’s label www.radiofrance.com
Aruna Sairam’s site: http://virb.com/arunasairam )
ARUNA SAIRAM - ’PADAM, TANJORE STYLE OF SINGING’
1: 42
( see tracknote @ 2308, above, This is more lively that the other sloka, and the violin is more prominent.

ARUNA SAIRAM CONCERT ALERT (Perth)

Sunday, June 22 @ 5.00 pm
John Curtin College of the Arts
90 Ellen Street, Fremantle
with violinist Mysore Srikanth and Tanjore K. Morogaboopathi on mridangam
Contact: Yasotha on 0419 951 378 or Sonia on 0413 737 470
www.indianeye.com.au/events.asp

AND:
ARUNA SAIRAM RADIO NATIONAL PERFORMANCE/INTERVIEW ALERT

She was on ’The Music Show’ with Andrew Ford, yesterday - June 14.
As is true of this show, its audio lives on for four weeks after broadcast, as audio you can demand from the show’s website.

’The Music Show’ with Andrew Ford - Saturdays10am-noon,
Repeat broadcast Sat night 8pm-10pm
Website (includes audio): www.abc.net.au/rn/musicshow )

2331
CD CUT 5, ’LA COLLINE DE MONK’
CHARLES LLOYD
FOREST FARM MUSIC (BMI)
ECM 2053 / 175 4811
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD - ’RABO DE NUBE’
4: 01
( Jason Moran’s piano alone, then in duet with Lloyd’s tenor sax. A salute to Thelonious Monk . It is suitably full of spark, angularity and improvisatory-conversational flair )

SEGUE (continuous)

2335
CD CUT 6, ’SWEET GEORGIA BRIGHT’
CHARLES LLOYD
FOREST FARM MUSIC (BMI)
ECM 2053 / 175 4811
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CHARLES LLOYD - ’RABO DE NUBE’
12: 14
( full quartet, arising directly out of cut-prior. Lively and alive, with brilliant solos all-round. Reuben Rogers is the bassist and Eric Harland is the ’mind-gobbling} drummer. Each other player is less than half the leader’s age: he’s as ’on’ as are they. Recorded when Lloyd was 69 - in April 2007 - its release celebrates his 70th birthday. He was born in Memphis Tennessee on March 15th, 1938 )

SEGUE

2347
CD CUT 8, ’I LIKE THE SUNRISE’
DUKE ELLINGTON
DUKE ELLINGTON MUSIC/ FAMOUS MUSIC CORP
PREMONITION RECORDS 66917 90757 2 3
(no current Australian distributor
worldwide: www.premonitionandmusic.com )
VON FREEMAN - ’THE IMPROVISOR’
6: 35
(decidedly ’spiritual’ ballad duet, ’live’: introduced by pianist Jason Moran, then enter Vonski’s magisterial tenor saxophone. He was 79 at the time of this December 2001 performance.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT VON FREEMAN?

There’s a splendid 2005 interview with the then-83-year-old (he’ll be 86 on October 3rd this year) here:
www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=19688

2356
CD CUT 6, ’HEAT HAZE’
AZO BELL
PUB NOT SPEC
ABCD006
(Through Vitamin: www.vitamin.net.au )
AZO BELL - ’SMALL TIME’
3:13 ( complete )
(AUSTRAL PERF AND ARR: absolutely solo ukulele.

ABC RADIO NATIONAL HEATWAVE/EXTREME COLD FRONT ALERT

Next weekend - the winter solstice ’- we revisit two special editions.
Saturday June 21: ’The Heat is On’.
Sunday June 22: ’The Big Chill’

More details here: www.abc.net.au/rn/weekendplanet/comingup )

Presenter

Doug Spencer

Producer

Doug Spencer